Device for holding and opening paper bags.



e. RHOADES. DEVICE FOR HOLDING AND OPENING PAPER BAGS.

- APPLIOATIONIILED 1107.7, 1910.

Patented May 2. 1911.

' WITNESSES Gra w 'ZkR/ZgadgQjNvENToR ATTO RN EY UNITE STATES PATENT FFICE.

GRANVILLE RHOADES, OF LONDON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE RI-IOADES NOVELTY COMPANY, OF LONDON, OHIO.

DEVICE FOR HOLDING AND OPENING PAPER BAGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1911 Application filed November '7, 1910. Serial No. 591,177.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GRANVILLE RHOADES,

a citizen of the United States, residing at other person, and capable of gripping the bags sufliciently tight to cause them to open automatically as they are removed from the holder, and equipped with means for permitting only the bag pulled upon to be re moved.

with these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and. pointed out in the claims hereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the inven tion.

In the drawing :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bag holder, constructed in accordance with this invention, and illustrating the manner of holding the bags, a portion of the bags being in section. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the bag holder, one of the bags being in section and shown open. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the bag holder. Fig. i is a perspective view of the bag holder. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the lower portion of the support. Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the bags, showing the condition of the same after being opened and removed from the holder.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the device for holding and opening paper bags comprises in its construction an approximately L-shaped support 1, consisting of a vertical attaching portion and a horizontal arm 2, extending outwardly from the lower end of the vertical supporting portion and provided at its outer end with a depending vertical flange 3, formed integral with the arm and carryingbag engaging means. The depending flange 3 supports a tapered or pointed projection 4, preferably consisting of a pin secured in a perforation of the flange 3 and projecting horizontally from the inner face of the said flange, and adapted to pierce a few of a series of paper bags 5, which are held against the projection at by means of a spring 6, bearing against the series of bags at the back thereof, and adapted to force the bags forwardly or outwardly. The depending flange is provided below the plane of the pin or projection with spaced horizontal lugs 7, located at opposite sides of the vertical plane of the pin or projection 4 and adapted to bear against the outermost bag and forming a firm abutment for the bags and also limiting the penetration of the pointed pin or projection. The spaced lugs are preferably located at the lower edge of the depending flange, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawing, but they may be arranged at any other point or points on the inner face of the depending flange 3.

The spring, which is approximately straight, is provided at its upper end with a spring coil 7, arranged on a cylindrical block or sleeve 8 of wood, or other suitable material mounted upon a transverse bolt 9, or other suitable fastening device, and arranged between spaced projecting ears 10. The cars, which are formed integral with the vertical portion of the L-shaped support, project forwardly from the upper end there of, and are provided with alined perforations to receive the bolt 9. The upper terminal 11 of the spring extends downwardly from the coil and bears against the front face of the vertical portion of the support.

The lower portion of the spring operates in a guide slot 12, extending longitudinally of the horizontal arm 2 and adapted to pre vent lateral movement of the spring, and having a lateral inlet opening 13 at its inner end to permit the spring to be engaged with and disengaged from the outer guiding portion of the horizontal arm. The lower end of the spring extends below the guiding portion of the arm and is bent into an approximately U-shaped loop 14, forming a broad bearing portion for the engaging end of the spring and providing an opening or open space, located opposite the pointed projection to prevent the latter from becoming dulled through contact with the spring when the bags are exhausted. The sides of the loop of the lower end of the spring are adapted to straddle the pointed projection, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

The bags, which are arranged in a pack, have their front or outer sides 15 shorter than their inner or rear sides, and located below the depending flange 3 of the support, and the spaced lugs and the pointed projection or pin are arranged adjacent to one another and in position to engage the inner face of the rear side of the outermost bag beyond the upper edge of the front side of the same. The bag is removed by one or two quick pulls or jerks, which first partially opens the bag, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawing, and then completely opens the bag, substantially as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The bag is finally removed from the holder by pulhng it downward to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, a small portion of the rear wall being torn away by the pointed projection or pin, as shown at 16 in Fig. 6 of the drawing. These operations in removing the bags require but an instant of time and a bag may be quickly removed, it being only necessary to pull upon the bag with sufiicient force to remove the same from the holder in order to insure a simultaneous opening of the bag.

The support is provided at the upper end of its vertical portion wit-h an integral hook 17 to enable the device to be hung up, and the vertical portion of the support is also provided with a key hole slot 18, consisting of a lower enlarged portion and an upper contracted portion and adapted to enable the device to be engaged with a nail 19, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive.

The bag holder can be hung or secured to scales or in close proximity to the same, and in this position will be found of great convenience. If a clerk or other employee should desire to fill a number of bags of a certain size, all that is required is to place the bags of such size in the holder and fill them. A number of holders may be mounted on a straight bar, or other suitable support and arranged overhead in a store, or other place of business, so that a bag or sack of any desired size will be in convenient reach for instant use.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device for holding and opening bags comprising a support provided with bag engaging means including a pointed projection, and a lug terminating short of the point of the said projection to permit the latter to pierce a plurality of bags, said lug limit-.

ing the penetration of the projection and being arranged sufficiently close to the same to permit both the projection and the lug to engage the inner face of the longer side of a bag above the shorter or upper side thereof, and yieldable bag engaging means cooperating with the said engaging means for holding a plurality of bags.

2. A device for holding and opening bags comprising a support provided with bag ongaging means including a pointed projection, and a pair of spaced lugs terminating short of the point of the projection to permit the latter to pierce a plurality of bags, said lugs and projection being arranged sufliciently close to permit them to engage the inner face of the longer side of a bag above the upper edge of the shorter side of the same, and yieldable means cooperating with the said engaging means for holding a plurality of bags.

3. A device for holding and opening bags including a support provided with a projecting arm having a longitudinal guide slot and provided with a depending flange having bag engaging means, and a spring connected with the support and operating 111 the guide slot and having a bag engaging portion located opposite the said flange.

4. A device for holding and opening bags comprising a support having a projecting arm provided with a longitudinal guide slot and having an entrance opening at the inner portion thereof, said arm being also provided with a depending flange or portion located at the outer end of the slot, bag engaging means carried by and extending inwardly from the flange, and a spring mounted upon the support above the arm and having its lower portion guided in the longitudinal slot and extending below the arm and cooperating with the bag engaging means and depending flange.

5. A device for holding and opening bags comprising a support having a projecting arm provided with a longitudinal guide slot, Said arm being also provided with a depending flange or portion, a pointed projection In testimony, that I claim the foregoing mounted on and extending inwardly from as my own, I have hereto affixed my signa- 10 the flange, and a spring carried by the supture in the presence of two Witnesses. port and guided in the longitudinal slot of GRANVILLE RHOADES 5 the said arm and having a loop for engaging the bags located opposite the pointed pro- Witnesses: jection and maintained in such position by EMMA HOLLAND, the said slot. J. C. RHOADES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

